Traitorous Love
by Lady Avotil
Summary: Alice is part of the Bakugan Battle Brawlers and Masquerade works for Naga. A middle ground cannot be found, or can it? What both parties do not know, won't hurt them at all, right? MasqueradexAlice
1. Chapter 1

Hi people!^_^ I've read all the MasqueradexAlice stories that there are on and despite the fact that 13 stories is a good number, it's still not enough. So here is chapter 1 of my own MasqueradexAlice story.

For the sake of this story and for this pairing to happen, Masquerade and Alice do NOT, I repeat, do NOT, share the same body. Oh, and also, just because I can't really write double personalities, and Hal-G are not the same person! In fact, in this story, Hal-G is 's evil twin brother. I know, it's poor, but I couldn't think of anything else…-_-'…

So enjoy and please review!!^_^

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Bakugan. If I did, then Masquerade and Alice would already be together…This just only proves that I do not own it.

_**Chapter 1: The Surprise visit**_

Alice Gehabich was a happy girl. Her grandfather, the scientist Dr. Michael Gehabich, was a nice man and his experiments were always interesting. However, 6 months ago he had mysteriously disappeared from the face of the Earth and no one knew were he was or what he was doing. Then, a few months ago, whilst Alice was sitting in one of the comfortable and cozy chairs in front of the fireplace - holding one of the cards that had fallen from the sky 6 months ago - he had returned.

Now Alice was in her room at her grandfather's mansion where his laboratory was. She was chatting with her 4 friends – Dan, Runo, Marucho and Julie, who also called themselves the Bakugan Battle Brawlers – and they were discussing the new number one player who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. His name was Masquerade and according to online chats he was stealing other people's Bakugan. At the end of their online discussion it was decided that Dan would challenge him and with that the Bakugan Battle Brawlers signed off.

Alice didn't really consider herself part of the Bakugan Battle Brawlers as she didn't brawl, but she knew all there was to know about the game – from ability and gate cards to different combinations. She often wondered what it would be like to brawl and what her attribute would be. Seeing as Dan was Pyrus, Julie was Subterra, Runo was Haos, Marucho was Aquos and Shun, the fifth but recently missing member of the group, was Ventus, it was only logical that to complete the entire set Alice would have to be a Darkus brawler. She always felt a sort of slight tingling feeling in her fingers whenever she thought about brawling with Darkus Bakugan, but Alice had a strange foreboding that if she should try to play she would do something horrible.

Sighing and dismissing yet again the strange sensation in her fingers she turned off her computer, got up from her chair and went to her open window. The land outside of her house was a beautiful green that only happened during the summer in Russia and through the open window she could hear the birds in the forest singing. Yes, Alice Gehabich was very happy today.

Deciding that such a beautiful day should not go to waste, Alice went downstairs, told her grandfather she was going out and walked to the little town near the mansion. Alice's favorite place in town was the park where everything seemed peaceful and almost every time she went there, there were children playing on the playgrounds or playing Bakugan. The game that was created only half a year ago was now very popular and it seemed that every child in every country was playing it or had at least heard about it.

Carefully looking if someone was following her, Alice went into the woods that covered roughly 1/6 of the park. The adults always ignored it and just walked by it and the children were scared to go there because of stories saying the woods were haunted by ghosts. Alice herself had believed those stories until one day, when she was 8 years old, one of her classmates had dared her to go inside. Gathering all her courage she had braved the woods and discovered that they weren't haunted and that there even was a small lake there. She had decided to keep this discovery for herself. She had resorted to her acting skills, which were fairly good for someone her age, and had acted really scared from her experience in the "scary and haunted" woods. Two good things had come from that dare: she had found a place that only she knew about and the children in her school had respected her ever since.

From that day on the little meadow looking out on the lake had become her favorite place in the world. After lying on the grass for a few hours and looking at the clouds fly over her head, Alice realized that if she were to arrive home before the sun set she would have to leave now.

Alice arrived an hour later at her grandfather's mansion just in time. Her grandfather was, yet again, deeply absorbed in his work and didn't even notice his granddaughter enter the house and go up the stairs to her room. As soon as Alice came into her room she closed the door and went online. It seemed that the Battle Brawlers were in the middle of a heated discussion and Alice soon found out why – Masquerade had beaten Dan and nearly sent his talking Pyrus Dragonoid, whom he had named Drago for short, to the Doom Dimension. It seemed that Masquerade used a card called the "Doom card" to send other Bakugan to a Dimension from where there apparently was no return. The Russian girl quickly went through all the cards she knew and realized that this was one she had never come across.

-He's good. He's using cards that even I don't know about, she told the others

-Well, he ain't gonna get away with his crimes that easily. He has to pay for taking away three of my favorite Bakugan! , Runo angrily added. The mysterious player had brawled her earlier that day and she had lost.

After agreeing that something had to be done the brawlers logged off and Alice soon followed suit. Alice slowly leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms and started thinking of any possible way there could be to stop him. Scenario after scenario went through her head like a movie, but each one had some loophole and she quickly dismissed it. After half an hour of brooding over the Brawler's dilemma, Alice still hadn't come up with a plan.

-He is….virtually unbeatable, she slowly and reluctantly realized, No matter what strategy I think of, he could easily counter it if he found the loophole and from what I know, he could easily do that.

-I'm glad that someone has finally realized that, someone said from behind her, a slight echo at the beginning of his sentence.

Alice quickly whirled around on her chair and there before her was Masquerade himself, calmly sitting on her bed with a small smirk on his face.

-Y-You m-must be Masquerade, Alice said, stuttering – the surprise visit of the Darkus brawler had shocked and frightened her.

-Yes and you are Alice. Why are you so scared, Alice?

-I am NOT afraid!

The Russian girl gasped at her sudden animosity in her voice but the masked boy's smile slightly grew at her sudden outburst. She would have seen his eyes widen and then shine with a strange gleam if it weren't for his mask.

-Really? You know, I've always wondered ever since I started carefully watching the Brawlers a few weeks ago, why you don't play Bakugan, Alice. Care to tell me?

-I-I don't really…know…Alice reluctantly admitted.

-Well, why don't we find out? I challenge you to a brawl…unless you are too chicken to accept, he challenged her, taking out a card and holding it up to his face…uh…mask

-Don't you DARE call me a chicken, Masquerade! I accept your challenge!

Alice informed him and lifted her hand, holding up a card, but then she stopped and looked own, a light red tint to her cheeks. Meanwhile Masquerade was slightly confused by the girl – first she was angry and looked ready to open the field, then she lowered her hand and…blushed?

-Well? Aren't you going to get ready? he impatiently asked her.

-Uh…well….I accept your challenge but I don't…uh…have any Bakugan….

If Masquerade hadn't known how to keep his face calm and stay composed his mouth would have been open and his eyes wide. 'The girl wants to brawl me and has cards but no Bakugan?', he thought to himself, looking at the girl that seemed to confuse him to no end..

-I…see. Here - 3 of my Bakugan. Now can we finally get on with it? , he demanded whilst throwing her three black and purple spheres he had picked at random from his pouch of Bakugan on his belt at the back of his waist.

Alice skillfully caught the three little balls and looked at them – they were of the Darkus attribute. Well, Masquerade was a Darkus brawler after all, so why wouldn't all of his Bakugan be Darkus? Ignoring the tingling feeling in her fingers that seemed to grow stronger as she held the Darkus Bakugan in her hand, the Russian girl lifted her hand, holding a card, to the level of her face, as did Masquerade, and they both shouted at the same time "Field Open!". A blinding bright light surrounded them and time seemed to stop.

Landing carefully on the playing field, Alice looked around herself. This was her first time in a battle field and the different array of colours around her fascinated her. 'So this is what the dimension of the battle field looks like', she thought to herself.

-If you are done admiring the view, can we finally start? Shouted Masquerade from across her, throwing a gate card which grew bigger as soon as it hit the ground in front of Alice.

-Since this is your first battle I'll go easy on you and I won't use the Doom card. Now, will you finally begin?

Alice was surprised by his offer, but quickly put on what she imagined was her "game face".

-Alright.

Taking one of the cards she had she briefly looked at it, turned it back face down and threw it, watching as it landed opposite Masquerade's and grew in size as well.

-Good. Now the fun can begin, said Masquerade, a small, slightly evil grin on his face. He took out a black and purple sphere and threw it…


	2. Chapter 2

_**A.N:**_ Hi people!^_^ I've managed to get my father's laptop for the rest of the Christmas holidays and so I have decide to write and post chapter 2 earlier than planned! So here is my late Christmas/early new years present for you, my dear readers! Enjoy it!^_^

Oh, and this is the first time I write a brawl, so please be nice!^_^

_**Disclaimer:**_

Me: Alright, who is going to say the disclaimer for me?

Masquerade: Not me.

Me: Not even for a cookie?

Masquerade: Lady Avotil doesn't own Bakugan.^_^ Now give me the cookie!^_^

Me: hehe, no one can resist the power of cookies…^_^

_**Chapter 2: The Brawl and the Proposition**_

_**Last time:**_ He took out a black and purple sphere and threw it…

"Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand! Darkus Laserman!" Masquerade threw the black and purple sphere onto his gate card. The ball rolled to the very centre of the black card on a grey circle and suddenly a bright purple light surrounded it. After the light died away a huge purple and black robot-like creature stood there.

'So this is what a Bakugan looks like outside of their shell' Alice thought as she watched her Bakupod, cleverly disguised as a silver bracelet, gave her the data of the Darkus Bakugan in front of her. 330 G's .'It's my turn now'.

"Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand! Darkus Mantris!" the red haired girl shouted as she threw one of the three Bakugan Masquerade had given her. Her Bakugan shot past the robot-like thing and landed on her own gate card and after the bright purple light had disappeared a giant black and purple Praying mantis-like creature stood there. 'Both Bakugan didn't stand up in front of each other so there is no brawl. His next move will either be to throw a new gate card or throw a second Bakugan on my gate card' the Russian girl quickly thought, waiting for Masquerade's next move. Just as she expected he played out another gate card, and threw….a Darkus Mantris on it?

"The stage is set, but the play has yet to start. Come on, Alice. It's your move now" Masquerade calmly said.

"Bakugan brawl! Darkus Centipoid stand!" A black and purple millipede-like creature appeared opposite Masquerade's Mantris.

"Battle recognized. Darkus Mantris at 290 G's. Darkus Centipoid at 350 G's. No other data available." The voice of the Bakupod announced.

The blond haired villain pointed a finger to the card on which the two Darkus Bakugan were standing.

"Gate card open! Triple battle! Triple battle is a command card that allows me to add another Bakugan to the battle" A yellowish wall appeared between the two Bakugan. Alice knew what the Triple Battle gate card did, but Masquerade said it as I she didn't know that. 'He is messing with the wrong person' Alice internally smiled – triple battle meant that Masquerade had to add his third and last Bakugan.

"Bakugan brawl! Darkus Reaper stand!" her opponent threw another black and purple sphere on the gate card with the two Bakugan and a strange, humanoid creature with a scythe and skull with horns appeared.

"Darkus Reaper has joined the battle. Darkus Reaper at 370 G's." the voice of the Bakupod said. 'Darkus Reaper? I've never heard of such a Bakugan before. Or seen one with such a high power level' Alice frantically thought as she calculated at the same time that her Darkus Centipoid would easily be defeated unless….

"Time to end this brawl. Reaper, Mantris – attack!" Masquerade ordered the two Bakugan.

'Wait for the right moment', Alice thought as the two Bakugan lunged for her Centipoid, 'Wait just a bit more' – the two Darkus creatures had crossed half of the card – 'Not yet' – they had almost reached her Bakugan – 'Now!'

"Ability card activate! Spice dissolve!" Alice threw a card towards the millipede-like creature and mid-flight a strange blackish purple glow surrounded it before it hit the Darkus Bakugan. As the card hit it the dark purplish glow seemed to spread and surround her Centipoid entirely and the attacks of the two Bakugan were stopped as if the glow was a shield.

"Recalculating battle scores. Advantage – Centipoid" the Bakupod on Alice's wrist said. The redhead looked at the display and the power levels read 460 – 470. Her Centipoid had a 10G advantage.

"Attack now Centipoid!" the red haired girl commanded her Darkus Bakugan. The Centipoid hit Masquerade's Mantris from above and threw his Reaper through the air. Both Bakugan returned to their spherical forms and rolled to the ground next to the blond villains feet.

Masquerade's eyes had widened when his opponent had thrown that specific ability card – he hadn't expected that move from her. 'Darkus allows her to take down two Bakugan in one move. It's something I myself would do, but not…what I expected her to do' he thought as he watched his two Bakugan roll to his feet, still slightly shocked. 'She knows that the Darkus attribute is more offensive than defensive, but that still doesn't explain why she thought of this move. The only other explanation left is that she is a natural Darkus player – like me.' As the blond haired villain thought that a smirk slowly made its way on his face.

"That's a very interesting move you used there, dear Alice. It's not a move many people would use. So here is my question – where did you get the idea for it?" he asked her, carefully watching her reaction to the question and patiently waiting for her answer.

"Uh…Well…I got the idea from…uh…from…" the red head was startled by Masquerade's question and even more so by her inability to answer it. For the first time in her life, Alice Gehabich had no idea what the answer to a question was.

Whilst Alice tried to find an explanation for her idea to use that ability card, Masquerade's smirk had grown a little. The Russian girl's answer proved his suspicion was correct - Alice Gehabich was a natural Darkus player. Slowly an idea formed in head as he contemplated his discovery.

"No matter. Let's finish this brawl, Alice!"

The red haired girl looked up and realized that her mind had wandered…during a battle! She quickly concentrated again and observing the playing field she saw it was her turn now.

"Bakugan brawl! Darkus Centipoid stand!" she threw the Darkus Bakugan on Masquerade's gate card and opposite his Laserman.

"New battle detected. Darkus Centipoid at 300 G's. Darkus Laserman at 330 G's. Other data unavailable" the Bakupod announced.

"Gate card open! Energy merge!" Masquerade shouted. A darkish purple glow suddenly surrounded the insectoid Bakugan and created a stream to the robot-like thing.

"Calculating energy transfer. Darkus Laserman at 430 G's. Darkus Centipoid at 200 G's. Darkus Laserman – 230 G's advantage" Alice worriedly looked at the display and saw the numbers – this wasn't looking good for her Centipoid and what was worse was that she didn't have any ability card that could even out the power levels. She helplessly watched as her Bakugan was shot down, transformed back into a ball and it rolled down next to her feet. She looked up and saw Masquerade catch his Darkus Bakugan, a slightly arrogant and challenging smirk on his face.

"Gate card set! Bakugan brawl!" both players shouted as they first threw down their gate cards and then their Bakugan. Masquerade's Laserman appeared on his gate card. From the Bakugan Alice had thrown on her own gate card a giant humanoid creature with armor and a spear had appeared.

"Darkus Laserman at 330 G's. Darkus Siege at 350 G's."

'I wonder what Masquerade is going to do now. He only has Laserman left, but he has no opponent and it is his turn. Oh well, seems like I will have to throw my third Bakugan…' Alice thought before she took the third and last Bakugan Masquerade had given her in her hand.

"Bakugan braw-", the Russian girl started to say before she was interrupted by Masquerade.

"Not so fast, Alice! Ability card activate! Leap Sting!" Masquerade said as he lazily held up a card that shortly lit up in a light purple color before disappearing from his hand. Alice wondered what the purpose of the ability card her blond haired opponent had used when she suddenly saw the Laserman's upper body part slowly make a 180º turn and purple blasts shoot from the robot's guns at the side of his head. The laser beams hit her Siege in the back and he transformed back into a ball and joined the defeated Centipoid next to Alice's feet.

"What…just happened?" the confused girl asked and expectantly looked at the masked villain at the other side of the field for an explanation.

"Well, Alice, my Leap Sting is a unique ability with the Darkus attribute that allows me to attack pretty well anywhere and let's just say it is very versatile. It also adds 50 G's to my Bakugan." Masquerade explained and looked at Alice who had a sort of pensive look on her face, as if she was trying to remember or rather memorize what he had just said.

"Ready for the third and last round, Alice?" he asked before holding up his Darkus Laserman.

"You bet, Masquerade" Alice replied as she threw down her gate card and followed up by throwing her last Bakugan. The ball landed on her gate card and a black and purple serpent-like creature appeared on it. Her opponent did the same thing and Laserman appeared in front of her Bakugan.

"New battle has commenced. Darkus Laserman at 330 G's. Darkus Serpenoid at 310 G's."

"Gate card open! Transform! This gate card increases my Bakugan's power to the level of my strongest Bakugan!" Alice triumphantly said with a smile on her face as she watched the numbers on the display under her Serpenoid change to 350 G's.

"Not a bad move, dear Alice, but you forget that I still have one ability card left" Masquerade replied as he slowly lifted a card over his head and calmly said "Ability Card activate! Dimension 4! This ability card cancels my opponent's gate card. Sorry, Alice, but your Serpenoid is history."

The Red headed Russian girl incredulously watched as Laserman shot down her Serpenoid and it returned in ball form to her feet. Unable to believe her defeat, Alice fell to her knees and looked at the three fallen Darkus Bakugan at her side into her hands before the field around her disappeared and she found herself in her bedroom again. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to see that Masquerade was looking down at her with a small smile on his masked face.

"Don't be so upset, Alice. You fought pretty well for someone who brawled for the first time."

Alice only nodded at his words, but quickly stood up as she didn't want to look weak in front of Masquerade.

"You have The Feeling when you brawl with Darkus Bakugan, don't you, Alice?" Masquerade asked her as he sat down on her bed again but never left her out of his sight.

"What are you talking about, Masquerade?" Alice asked once again confused by the masked villain's question.

"It's a sort of tingling in your fingers. Well did you get it when you just brawled with the Darkus Bakugan I gave you?" he asked again.

"Uh…yeah, something like that. Why do you ask?" Now the Russian girl was getting curious.

"Well, my dear Alice, I just wanted to be sure that my suspicion was correct. You are a natural Darkus player, Alice, and such talent should not be wasted, if you ask me."

"What are you getting at, Masquerade?" the red head asked whilst slightly narrowing her eyes at the blond haired villain sitting on her bed. She was glad that someone had finally told her what the feeling in her fingers meant, but she didn't like the look on his face. No, she didn't like it at all.

"I was wondering if you were a natural Darkus attributed brawler ever since you pulled out that move and took out two of my Bakugan with one single shot. I have thought a lot about this interesting discovery and so here is what I came up with – I am going to offer you lessons." He answered her question with a serious look on his face.

"You want…to…give me…lessons?" Alice slowly and unbelievingly repeated his proposition.

"Yes, I want to give you lessons - simple as that. You are a natural but that doesn't mean that you know how to use this to your advantage. Take your friend Dan for example – he is a natural Pyrus player, but he is completely unaware of that and is wasting his talent. I don't want to see a fellow natural Darkus player waste theirs, so that is why I am offering you lessons – to teach you to use your inborn talent" he explained, still looking at her.

"Uh….thank you for the offer, but there is a problem with it – aren't we on opposing teams or sides?"

"Hm…I'll think of something. Besides, I am not asking for your answer immediately. I'll give you time to decide – until the end of tomorrow. That should be enough time. I'll contact you on your Bakupod. Yes, I know that your bracelet is your Bakupod" the spiked-haired villain said, a small smile appearing on his face as he looked at his possibly future student's shocked face. He stood up and went over to the still slightly startled girl and held out his hand.

"It was nice brawling you, Alice. You really are as good as they say, but you can be so much better – so much more – than just a strategist".

Alice slowly took his hand and shook it before watching him disappear in a shower of sparkly…stuff. She went to her bed, lay down on it on her back and stared for some time at the ceiling of her room, thinking about Masquerade's offer. After a few minutes, exhausted from her first battle, Alice fell asleep and on that night she dreamt of brawling alongside her friends and not just standing on the side lines watching them.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A.N.:**_ Heya people! I am on a writing spree and I just can't stop. So here is Chapter 3! Enjoy!^_^

This chapter, along with the entire story, is dedicated to my friends and fellow authors Skye410 and Sara593. Their characters, Sarah and Bella respectively, are also part of this story from now on.^_^

_**Disclaimer:**_

Me: So…who is going to say the disclaimer this time? Masquerade?

Masquerade: No. I am barely in this chapter.

Me: ^_^'…Right….

Bella: I'll say it – for a cookie.^_^

Me: Why does everyone like cookies? Alright, here is a cookie for you.

Bella: Yey! Lady Avotil doesn't own Bakugan or me or Sarah.^_^

Me: Unfortunately this is true. Otherwise Masquerade would still be in the anime and have more than just one appearance in the New Vestroia series!

Masquerade: Really?

Me: Yes. Now on to the story.^_^

_**Chapter 3: The First Day of School and the Answer**_

Alice woke up the next morning and sleepily looked at the clock on her bedside table and then at the calendar on her wall. Closing her eyes she was preparing to go back to sleep when her eyes suddenly snapped open and she looked at the clock and the calendar again. She jumped out of bed and quickly went over to her closet – today was the first day of the new school year and the welcoming ceremony was going to start in less than an hour! If she didn't hurry then she would miss it!

After getting dressed and cleaning up the red haired girl ran downstairs and going to the kitchen she saw that her grandfather had just finished making breakfast. Hurriedly she ate her toast and egg and practically ran out of the house and into the forest surrounding it. Running like never before the Russian girl arrived at her school in record time and with 5 minutes to go until the beginning of the ceremony.

Exhausted from the long run the teenage girl went to one of the trees in the school yard and leaned on it to rest a bit in its cooling shadows. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see two people walking towards her. Looking up she saw that it was her two best friends Sarah and Bella. The three of them were in the same class since 5th grade.

Sarah was, like Alice, 15 years old and she had mid-back, black hair with a natural, according to her, tinge of red and had amazingly beautiful sapphire blue eyes. She was a skater-girl, unlike Alice, and her favorite clothing consisted of dark baggy jeans, white skater shoes and a dark blue hooded shirt. She was a brawler and she had black fingerless gloves that reached just past her wrist and her red Bakupod was on her left wrist. Her attribute was Pyrus as far as Alice knew.

Bella also was 15 and like Sarah had black hair and blue eyes. She was pretty much a skater girl as well – she wore a hooded black top, black baggy jeans and black skater shoes. She had black fingerless gloves and a red Bakupod could be seen on her left wrist. Her attribute was also Pyrus.

"Hey guys! How was your summer?" Alice asked after they all hugged.

"Well, if you exclude the fact that today Sarah and I ran away from our parents, then it was awesome! We totally only brawled all summer long!" Bella excitedly told her Russian friend.

"Wait, what!?! You ran away from your homes this morning? Where are you going to stay?" the red head looked worriedly at her friends. She hadn't expected them to run away. Then again with parents like theirs she wasn't surprised that they had finally snapped – their parents were down right medieval people and not very friendly.

"Well…we…still haven't really decided, have we, Bella?" Sarah looked at her black-haired friend.

"Yeah that's true. It was a spur-of- the-moment action" Bella added.

"Well…..how about you guys stay at my place?" Alice proposed. Her friends' faces immediately lit up and before she knew it she was tackled to the ground and both girls were hugging her.

"Thank you so much! That would be so awesome, Alice! But wouldn't we be a bother for you?" Sarah questioned the red-haired girl on the ground.

"No, I don't think so. But guys, we should hurry or else we'll miss the opening of the school year – after all, we are going to be 10th graders. It's a big milestone on the road to finishing school – only two more years. Besides, the buffet will be packed with food" Alice reminded her friends. She knew that they didn't like school at all, but they did love food and there was going to be lots of it during the opening ceremony.

The mentioning of food got her friends going and they arrived just in time for the speech of the school's principal. After talking about their summers and not listening to the long monologue the director had prepared they finally saw the people start clapping and that could only mean that the opening was over and the feast had started. They made their way to the buffet table and piled their plates with all sorts of sweets that were there.

"You know, Alice, talking about brawling…Have you decided if you want to brawl yet?" Bella slowly and carefully questioned her friend.

"Yes, I want to ask you the same thing, human. Bella has told me much about you and your strategies – you would make a fine brawler" a small red and yellow sphere rolled onto Bella's shoulder popped open.

"Wolfress, what are you doing here! I thought I had left you in my backpack in the classroom" the black-haired girl questioned the Pyrus attributed Bakugan. She looked up and saw that the red head was looking at her with a confused look on her face.

"Oops, sorry, Alice. We forgot to tell you that we found two talking Bakugan during the summer. Seems that they are our "guardians" or something like that. Bella's guardian Bakugan is called Pyrus Wolfress and mine is Haos Tigorra" Sarah explained to the third member of their small group as a small white and yellow sphere rolled and popped up on her shoulder.

"Greetings, human. I am Haos Tigorra" it said.

"I see. Well, to answer your question Bella and…Wolfress, was it?...I have been thinking about it lately but I haven't really decided" Alice told her friends, although the last part was a lie – she had already decided what she was going to do.

After a few more minutes of talking the trio decided to leave the party and go to Alice's house. The red headed teenage girl had called her grandfather and asked him if her two best friends could stay at their mansion and he had replied that it was no problem. So here were the three of them, in the forest surrounding the house and Alice was explaining to them that in order to be able to conduct his experiments her grandfather had to be outside of the village.

After reaching the mansion Alice showed them to their rooms which weren't as she had expected the guest rooms next to her own room, but the ones in the other part of the mansion. Sarah and Bella said that they were just happy to be able to stay with their best friend, so it didn't bother them. After getting unpacked the two girls decided to go to the village to brawl and they told the third member of their little group that they would return back to the mansion at around 7 o'clock.

Alice watched as her friends walked down the small path in the forest until they disappeared into the shadows. The Russian girl sighed before going back upstairs to her room. She looked at the clock on her bedside table and saw that it was 1 o'clock in the after noon. She turned on her computer and went online. Immediately the four screens pertaining to the four present(meaning still no Shun) people of the Battle Brawlers appeared.

"Hey guys!" she cheerfully said ad the brawlers smiled back.

"Yo Alice! Where have you, like, been? It's, like, 1 o'clock where you are" the Australian Subterra player asked her.

"Sorry guys! I was at the opening feast until now and I just came back"

"Aha. Anyway" Dan said "The situation is getting serious. Today some kid called Rikimaru challenged me and guess what – he was working for Masquerade and had a Doom card!"

"What? Now Masquerade is recruiting others to work for him? That creep!" exclaimed Runo who was still furious that she had lost a brawl to the masked villain.

"What happened, Danny? Did you beat him or did you loose?" Julie questioned her crush.

"Of course I won! Drago and I are an unbeatable team!" the brown haired boy answered before his smile turned into a frown.

"What's wrong, Dan?" Marucho, the group's Aquos brawler, said.

"…Drago sounded like he wanted to go solo after the battle and so I threw him into the river…"

"You what!" everyone shouted disbelievingly.

"Ha! I knew that he was never meant for you. I would never do this to my precious Tigrerra" Runo said whilst lovingly cuddling the white and golden sphere in her hand that was her own talking Bakugan.

"I must admit that she takes care of me rather well" it said.

"I….can hear my parents calling me! See ya'll later!" the nervous-looking Pyrus brawler said before his window disappeared. The others shortly followed and their windows closed one by one.

Alice also signed off and decided to think about a certain blond boy's offer. She was sure she had decided at the opening ceremony what her answer would be, but she wanted to make sure it was what she wanted.

Bella and Sarah came back at 7 o'clock just like they had said they would and so they had dinner early. After having eaten the trio of girls decided to watch a movie and since it was a unanimous vote they chose a comedy called "Monster In-Law". The three girls laughed and laughed and couldn't stop laughing as they watched it. The movie finished, but the girls were all still laughing. They decided to go to Bella's room and there they sat for another hour and talked about Bakugan and the advantages and disadvantages of the different attributes.

Bella and Sarah were surprised when Alice fiercely defended the pluses of the Darkus attribute and made the minuses of it seem insignificant. The red haired girl noticed this and quickly tried to do the same with the other attributes. Judging by the small smiles on her friends faces she had succeeded in covering her mistake. Both girls knew that Alice was the strategist of the group and so they forgot what had happened a few minutes ago. As 10:30 p.m. neared Sarah and Bella started to become sleepy and so Alice left them and went back to her own room. The moment she went inside she let herself fall down on her bed and she lied there unmoving until a small beeping noise coming from her Bakupod roused her from her thoughts. She looked at the time and was shocked to see that it was already 11 o'clock. The Russian girl quickly pushed a button at the side of her bracelet and Masquerade appeared on the display.

"Good evening, Alice. How was your day?" the blond haired villain asked…with a friendly tone?

"Uh…good, thank you. And yours?" the Russian girl slowly asked, still not used to this side of Masquerade.

"It has been a wonderful day so far. Now, have you decided what your answer to my offer is?" he inquired.

"Yes, I have. I accept your offer under one condition – no one, and I mean NO ONE, is to find out about these lessons. Deal?" she answered and was shocked when a smile made its way on his up 'till then serious face.

"Deal. Ah, Alice - this definitely made my day. I will see you tomorrow after school after your two friends leave to go brawl in the village" he told her and his smile grew at seeing her, once again, shocked face.

"How did you know that Bella and Sarah moved into my house today or that they go to brawl in the village every day after school?" the red haired girl questioned the blond haired villain.

"I have my sources. I know everything. So, see you tomorrow afternoon, Alice" Masquerade replied before the connection ended.

Alice still looked at the display for a long time before she finally stood up and got ready for bed. This time she remembered to turn on her alarm clock so as to not be late again. Satisfied that she hadn't forgotten to do anything for tomorrow she let herself fall on her soft bed and the moment her head hit the surface of the pillow sleep claimed her and Alice dreamed once again of brawling along side her friends.

_**A.N.:**_ I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter.^_^ Now, since some people have asked me to post my next chapters as quickly as possible, I decided that I'll put something like a requirement for that to happen. I will post the next chapter(which, mind you, I've already finished writing) the moment I receive at least 10 reviews for it.^_^


	4. Chapter 4

_**A.N.:**_ Hi people!^_^ Despite the fact that I still need one more review for chapter 3 I have decided to make an exception and post the next chapter anyway.^_^ But, mind you, I will not, I repeat, will NOT, post the next chapter until I get 15 reviews for this one. Sorry, but I do like answering reviews…^_^'…

So, aside from the rise of the review rate(if that's what it is called) enjoy reading chapter 4!^_^

_**Disclaimer:**_

Me: Time for the disclaimer!^_^

Masquerade: I told you that I will not say it.

Me: Awww, come on Masquerade, I made sure that you are in this chapter most of the time.

Masquerade: That is true….Oh, alright – Lady Avotil doesn't own Bakugan.

Me: Thank you!^_^

_**Chapter 4**__**: The lessons and Dawn**_

Alice was very distracted the next day, thinking about her first lesson with Masquerade, and could hardly wait for school to end. The moment the bell signaling the end of the last hour rang she was the first one out of the classroom and she patiently went back to her grandfather's mansion with Sarah and Bella. After lunch Alice went with her two best friends to the edge of the forest and the moment she couldn't see them anymore in the dense forest she hurried back inside and went up to her room.

When Alice opened the door of her room she took one look inside and stayed there for god knows how many minutes staring at who was lying on her bed there – Masquerade, in all his glory, was lounging on her bed with an air of confidence as if it was his own room. He looked up and smiled as he saw the red haired teenager standing in the door way looking at him.

"You know…it's rude to stare at people, Alice. Now how long are you still going to stand there? We have a lesson!" the masked boy asked the Russian girl, effectively snapping her out of her trans-like state.

"I…uh…nothing. I just didn't expect you to be here, that's all" she answered and blushed slightly at his remark about her staring.

"So, how are we going to do this thing with the lessons?" she questioned her tutor(she refused to think of him as a teacher), remembering his words that he was going to think of something.

In response to her question Masquerade simply smiled, stood up and extended his hand towards her urging her to take it with a nod of his head. The red head slowly took his hand and when she did a bright light surrounded her and the blond haired boy. When Alice opened her eyes again she immediately closed and reopened them.

"To answer your question, my dear Alice, we will simply go to a location that no one knows and we shall have our lessons there. Well, this is that location and I assure you that no one even has an idea that this place exists" the masked boy said as he let go of her hand and looked at his guest's confused and lost look. Deciding that it would be best if his "student" calmed down and looked around the place, he went over to a desk with a computer on it, sat down on the chair in front of it and started clicking and typing.

Meanwhile Alice was still slightly confused as to where she was, but she was 100% sure that this was not her room. The walls were made out of stone bricks and different kinds of masks adorned them. There was a stairway to the far left corner of the room that led to a door. The Russian girl decided that there was nothing more to see and so she turned around and started walking towards Masquerade who she found had moved to sit in front of a desk and was typing something. When she was close enough to look over his shoulder she only saw a black window with row after row of numbers and the blond villain kept typing more numbers as if he were….writing a sequence or coding something? She would have to ask him later on.

"If you are done watching me type rows and rows of numbers, I suggest that you sit down on the chair next to me" he suddenly said whilst finishing typing a last few numbers. Surprised, Alice looked to her left and saw that there was indeed a chair there that she hadn't seen before. Doing as she was told the teenage girl sat down.

The spiked-haired boy slowly turned towards her. Not liking the sudden silence that followed the Russian girl decided to ask him the question that first came to her mind at the moment.

"How old are you?" Alice suddenly asked and her question obviously threw Masquerade off guard.

"Why do you ask that?" he confusedly inquired of her in turn.

"Uh, well, because of your mask your face isn't really visible and your entire life is basically a mystery and I just wondered…how old you were?" she answered, still shocked that she would ask him that. 'Now that I think of it, there isn't really anything I know about him except that he is a Darkus brawler and sometimes uses unknown cards in battle'.

"If I answer your question, will you answer one of mine?" he carefully proposed this with a small smile on his face. The red haired girl knew that normally she wouldn't agree to something like that, but the person that was Masquerade had started to intrigue her too much to loose such a precious opportunity.

"Sure" she confidently replied, slightly shrugging her shoulders to show him that she didn't mind at all. The blonde's smile grew a bit more as he heard her answer.

"Alright. I am 17 years old. Now here is my question – when were you born?" he questioned her whilst tilting his head slightly to the side.

"I was born on the 3rd November 1993(now it's September 16th 2009)" the teenage girl answered.

"So that means that now you are 15" he concluded.

"Yup" was her short reply.

"Well, what do you say to this – before each of our lessons we ask each other one question about ourselves" he offered the idea to the red headed Russian girl next to him.

"How about three questions instead of one" she tried to bargain, hoping to get more information about the mysterious boy that way.

"Two or no questions at all" he returned.

"Deal" the red head quickly said – two questions were less than three but better than none at all.

"Deal" the blond teenager agreed and put out a hand. Alice had made yet another deal with Masquerade in less than two days. However, since those deals were beneficial to Alice and in general she didn't really consider that a bad thing.

"Alright. Then that means that I get to ask you another question – why do you live with your grandfather and not with your parents?" he inquired – it had been something he had always wondered ever since he had started watching the Brawlers. He noticed at his question that her smile had turned into a frown – it seemed that he had managed to touch a nerve.

"Usually I'd prefer to not answer this question, but since we made a deal I guess that I have no choice" she looked up at him and into his eyes – or at least where she imagined that his eyes were behind the mask "My parents died in a car crash when I was only 5 years old. I was in it as well and I just managed to survive with the only reminder of it being a scar on my left shoulder. Ever since then I've lived with my grandfather"

That was not the answer Masquerade had expected – a divorce maybe, but never a car crash. He could not imagine such a nice and a bit shy girl like Alice to grow up without any parents. It reminded him a bit of his own life. 'Except that I turned out differently, didn't I?' he thought as he prepared himself for the red heads question.

"Now it's my turn – if you live alone, then why?" she asked, cleverly combining two questions in one.

"Clever girl, aren't you? Yes, I live alone and the reason is that I ran away from my parents when I was 11 – my father was almost always drunk and my mother was no better because she took drugs. I decided to leave that madhouse I called my home and so I took some of my father's money and bought a train ticket to the closest relatives I had – my aunt and uncle. They were kinder and much more normal than my parents but that didn't mean that I opened myself up to them. I finished my education 2 years earlier than the others at the age of 16 because I was on an equal level with the 12th graders – a genius of sorts, if you will. So here I am now, at the age of 17, alone and in possession of a mansion that my dear father left me when he died a few months ago from alcoholic poisoning" he answered with practically no emotion at all.

Alice didn't quite know how to feel after this revelation, but she knew one thing – Masquerade had had no one who loved him during his childhood and that surely somehow affected his life. Feeling a bit sorry for him she put a hand on his shoulder, gently squeezed it and smiled a bit as if to say 'It's alright – you are not alone' and Masquerade slightly smiled back at her.

"Now, shall we start with what we are actually here for?" he said in a sort of cheerful way "I think that we should start with the basics and unless you have a question you will not interrupt me, okay?" he asked as he looked at her, waiting for an answer.

"Okay – let's start!" Alice enthusiastically agreed. If she could have seen through the mask she would have seen the blond teenager's eyes roll.

"Alright. First off, the Darkus attribute is, as you probably already know, a more offensive than defensive attribute. It concentrates mainly on attack and that in turn means that usually the defenses are poor – that is why most brawlers choose attributes other than Darkus. To be a successful Darkus player you have to first be a successful strategist to cover up that weakness. Also, in every single battle you have to have a Plan A, a Plan B and even a Plan C ready! You have to think ahead of your opponent, or in some cases opponents, by at least 4-5 steps and know all your Bakugan in and out by heart – their strong points as well as their weaknesses" the blond Darkus player started to explain as he activated the battle simulation he had just finished.

And so Alice's lessons continued – five times a week(every Monday to Friday) and little by little she understood how to use her natural talent and she also got to see more of Masquerade's friendlier side and get to know more about his life as well, just as he got to know more about her.

After a month of taking lessons from Masquerade the red headed Russian girl decided that she was ready to start her brawling "career". For that purpose she had taken Masquerade as an example and specially put together an outfit and, of course, it also had a mask.

Her outfit consisted of a black jacket with wide sleeves – the left one rolled up until just above the elbow – a V-necked, dark purple T-Shirt beneath it and black baggy jeans that were tucked into a pair of black, almost knee-high boots. She wore fingerless, black gloves with three red stripes that almost reached her elbows and on the left wrist – a custom-made black Bakupod with red at the edges. The mask was a dark green color with golden decorative swirls on the edges and it not only covered the upper half of her face, but it also covered her nose because it had a beak of sorts(imagine Ace's mask from the New Vestroia episode where he battles in that arena). To be definitely sure that no one would recognize her she would put her long, red hair into a ponytail and her brawler name would be _**Dawn**_.

Alice was very proud of her new outfit, but if she were to really remain incognito she would have to also brawl outside of Russia. After several hours of thinking, the only idea she could come up with was to go to Masquerade and ask him if she could borrow his dimensional transporter card from time to time or better yet – ask him if he had another one. The chances of him agreeing were slim and those of him having a second one – even slimmer. But she had to try and so the red haired girl waited patiently for their next lesson to come. Finally it came and the teenage girl decided to ask him.

"Do you have a second dimensional transporter card?" she inquired and despite his mask Alice could see that he was surprised by her question.

"Yes, I have a second one that I keep in case I loose the first one. Here is my question – why do you ask?" he replied and it was difficult for him not to notice how the girl had brightened up when he told her about the reserve dimensional transporter card.

"I ask because I think that I am ready and so I want to start my way as a Darkus brawler and to do that I would need to brawl and since I don't want anyone to know yet that I have started to brawl I need to brawl outside of Russia and to do that and not become suspicious I need your dimensional transporter card and so I asked you if you had one" she answered in one breath.

Masquerade's smile had grown and almost become a grin when Alice told him why she had asked him that. 'So, you decided that you are ready to show the world the person you really are' he thought as he remembered the first time he and Alice had brawled – she was a different person when she was on the playing field.

"If I agree to give you the second dimensional transporter card for your use, then our lessons will end. Well? Your answer?" he questioned her – he wanted to see if she really wanted to brawl. If she did, then she would answer his question without even thinking about it for a second. If she did hesitate, then she wasn't ready yet.

"Alright" came her answer immediately although he did see that she did so reluctantly. It was true that he had come to like and even enjoy their little lessons – apparently just as she had. When they were here they weren't mortal enemies – she as part of the Brawlers and he as Naga's minion – they were something like friends.

"Very well. Here is the second card" the blond teenager told her as he pulled open one of the desk's drawers and took out a card from it "To use it you either just imagine the place where you want to be or you imagine the address and then the card will take you there. If you want to bring someone along with you then they will have to hold on to you. Got it?" he explained to her and gave her the card.

"Thank you so much – for everything" she said and then she did something Masquerade hadn't expected her to do – she hugged him. He was so shocked that he didn't know what to do and just stood still.

"You know….when someone hugs you, Masquerade, you usually hug them back" she told him, almost perfectly imitating the tone he had used when he had said almost the exact same thing just before their first lesson. Slowly he wrapped his arms around her and they stood there like this for some time. To his surprise, the blond teenager didn't mind doing it and even liked it.

When they separated Alice extended her hand "I hope that we'll meet again someday, Masquerade, and then we'll see if I can beat you", a smile on her face. The blond boy took her hand "I hope that we'll someday meet again too, Alice. But there is no chance that you'll beat me" he replied, a smile on his face as well. The blond boy suddenly let go of her hand and started to run towards the stairs leading to the door.

"Wait a minute! I want to give you something before you go and start your journey. I'll be right back!" he shouted as he went up the few stairs, opened the door and ran through it.

Alice could only tilt her head to the side, confused by his sudden departure. Shrugging her shoulders she went to her chair in front of the desk, sat down on it and patiently waited for him. After what seemed like hours, but were only a few minutes the teenager came back with a small, wooden, black box with fine purple decorations in his hands. Stopping in front of the red haired girl he extended his hands and Alice took the box. When she looked up from it she saw Masquerade looking at her with a friendly smirk on his face.

"I decided that since you were my student of sorts I would give you a "graduation" gift, so to say. But" he told her, holding up a finger as she was about to open the clasp of the lid of the box "you are not allowed to open it until you go back home".

The hand that was just about to open the box went back to holding it on the side and Alice looked up at the spiked-haired teenager in front of her again, a slightly annoyed or maybe peeved look in her eyes.

"Just to see if you understood what I said I want you to use the dimensional transporter card and transport us to your room" he said, gently grabbing her left wrist as Alice held the box in her left hand and lifted the dimensional transporter card to the level of her face with the other one. She closed her eyes and clearly imagined her room. The moment she did that a blinding bright light surrounded her and Masquerade. After the light died down she dared to open her eyes again and found to her great joy that they were indeed in her room.

"I have to go now. Good bye, Alice. Until we meet again" the blond teenager said before he disappeared in a rain of sparkly stuff. Alice couldn't believe it – this was so typical of him. Making grand entrances or exits. But she still couldn't figure out how he did that without getting the card out. 'I definitely have got to learn how to do that' she thought to herself as she put the DT card(I got tired of constantly writing "dimensional transporter"…-_-'…) on her bed and carefully opened the box. What was inside completely surprised her – it was a collection of Darkus Bakugan. She counted them quickly – 24! Masquerade had given her 24 Darkus Bakugan! She couldn't believe it. Alice looked at her open window and quietly said "Thank you".

Unbeknownst to her a certain masked, blond haired teenager was sitting on the tree next to her window. "You're welcome", he said, smiled and then vanished in a rain of sparkles.

After lying on her bed in deep thought Alice decided to call Sarah and Bella on their Bakupods. She wanted to surprise them and hopefully ask them something as well.

"Yo girls! Can you come back to the mansion? I want to tell you, and then ask you, something very important. See ya soon!" she recorded the video and then quickly sent it to their Bakupods.

Not more than 15 minutes later she heard them enter the house and run up the stairs to her room. They practically threw open her door and a panting Bella asked "We got your message and came as quickly as we could. Where's the emergency?" When the black-haired girl looked up again she saw that Alice was trying, and failing, to hold her laughter.

"I'm sorry if you got worried. There's no emergency. I just wanted to tell you something – I have decided to brawl. Not as me though – in a different outfit and a mask. I don't want anyone to recognize me. So…this was what I wanted to tell you. What I wanted to ask you is if you want to be my accomplices of sorts, my left and right hand, my fellow brawlers?" Alice announced and then nervously asked her two best friends – would they say yes and join her or would they refuse and she would brawl alone?

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting for Alice, but was only a few seconds in reality, Alice found herself in a big hug from both skater girls.

"Choking…not breathing…" she said and they immediately let her go and started to laugh.

"It's about time you decided to brawl! Of course we'll join you, right Bella?" Sarah said and looked at her friend who was grinning.

"Definitely! Besides, I like the idea of brawling as someone else and with a disguise and a mask. So count me in. I still have my mask from last year's carnival party we had at school" Bella joyously answered.

"Yeah, me too. I mean, after all the hard searching I went through to find it I couldn't just simply throw it away. We just have to come up with a new outfit and we are ready to go!" Sarah added.

"But Alice, if you are going to brawl then you'll have to get Bakugan and cards and it would probably be good to know which is your attribute" Bella pointed out to her red headed friend who simply…smirked? 'That's unusual for Alice. She never smirks…unless she knows something….

"Don't tell me you…" the dark haired brawler didn't even finish the sentence when Alice pulled out one of her desk's drawers and took out a neatly piled stack of…Bakugan cards? 'Alright, so she has the cards, but she doesn't have any…Bakugan'. After the cards the red haired girl had taken a small, black and purple box and opened it to show them an impressive collection of Darkus Bakugan.

Alice was enjoying this a lot. Both her friends stared at the cards and Bakugan disbelievingly – especially the Bakugan.

"Darkus? You chose the Darkus attribute, Alice? Why?" Sarah asked, carefully observing the rows of black and purple spheres in the box.

"Because it's my attribute – I am a natural at it" was Alice's answer as a small smile appeared on her face.

"How can you know that?" Bella inquired, curious as to how her friend knew this and how she had gotten all those Darkus Bakugan.

"I just do. And before you ask, I am 100% sure of it" was her reply.

"And what about the Bakugan? Where did you get them?" Bella continued questioning her friend.

"Let's just say that it is a gift from a friend of mine" the teenage girl answered. 'They'll never know it was from Masquerade…Actually, I'm not even sure they have heard of him before' she thought as she carefully put down the box and closed it again.

"So, girls, how about we start tomorrow in France?" Alice asked her two best friends who looked at her as if she was insane.

"Uh…Alice, we are in Russia and you want us to go to France to just…brawl?" Sarah slowly asked her friend, worried for her sanity.

"Yes, I know that. That's why we are going to use this dimensional transporter card grandfather Michael created – it can get you anywhere you want if you just think about the place or the address. Like if I want to get from here to Paris, I could easily do it within a few seconds.

Bella and Sarah looked at each other and slowly both started to smile and then they looked at Alice.

"Well, what are we waiting for then?!" they both said at the same time before starting to laugh. Shortly after all three of them were laughing and were thrilled at the idea of brawling in another country.

Whilst laughing with her friends Alice only thought one thing – 'My journey will soon start' and with that thought she went to bed that evening, thinking about France and brawling there together with her two best friends after school tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 5

_**A.N.:**_ Sorry for the long wait, people! Here is chapter 5! Enjoy reading it and don't forget – I need at least 10 reviews before I post chapter 6(I lowered the quota of reviews a bit since I only got 11 for the last chapter)!^_^

_**Disclaimer:**_

Me: Unfortunately it seems that I can't track down any of my characters, so I'll say it – I, unfortunately, don't own Bakugan.

_**Chapter 5:The Start**__** and the Discovery**_

On the next day Alice calmly waited for the school day to end and wondered what kinds of outfits her two best friends had put together. Bella and Sarah were too excited in the morning – therefore hyperactive and as a result the two girls had left the school during their second hour – Maths. Riling up their Maths teacher was easy for those two, but Alice had refused to leave the classroom with them and so she had to hold out until the last hour. The second the bell rang Alice got out as quickly as possible and practically jogged back to her grandfather's mansion.

The moment she entered her room she saw two people with masks standing there – not recognizing either of them. At her confused expression the two masked people grinned and took of their mask at the same time, revealing two familiar faces.

"Sarah! Bella! I could barely recognize you. Your outfits are great – no one would even suspect that it's you two" Alice exclaimed as she observed her friends outfits in more detail and noticed that they were actually almost the same.

Sarah had an almost ankle-long, black coat with long sleeves, a dark red and yellow T-Shirt underneath and black baggy jeans that were tucked into a pair of…biker boots with small silver spikes? Her Bakupod and fingerless gloves were the ones she usually brawled with. Her mask covered the upper half of her face and was a dark red color with golden decorative swirls.

Bella had an almost ankle-long, black coat with long sleeves as well, a dark red and black T-Shirt underneath and the same black baggy jeans and spiked biker boots. Her mask also covered the upper half of her face and was dark red with black decorative swirls. Same as her friend, Bella had opted to keep her usual Bakupod and fingerless gloves.

"Now that we've showed you our outfits…" started to say Bella.

"…you must show us yours" finished Sarah.

"Alright, but you'll have to get out of my room first. I want it to be a surprise for you" the red haired girl told her friends, shooed them outside and closed the door after them. She went over to her closet, opened it and carefully took out her outfit. Not more than 5 minutes later she opened the door and hiding behind it let her friends back in. The moment she closed the door both Bella and Sarah turned around and barely recognized their friend again.

"One word - wow! You should dress like this more often, Alice – it really suits you" commented Sarah as she took in the new look of her friend.

"I agree with Sarah – wow! How come you don't wear clothes like this at school?" agreed Bella.

"Girls – may I present the Darkus brawler Dawn" the red haired teenage girl told her friends whilst theatrically bowing "Oh yeah, that reminds me – what are your new names going to be?" she asked as she straightened up again, took off her mask and looked at her two best friends who, for some reason, both had devious smiles on their faces.

"My name is Jane" replied Bella.

"And my name is Ana" said Sarah.

Both girls mimicked Alice's movement and then started to laugh. After they stopped laughing all three girls put their masks back on and then Alice explained to them how the DT card worked.

"Alright. First stop – Paris" Alice announced and waited for Sarah and Bella to grab on to her before she closed her eyes and imagined the famous Eiffel tower. The moment she did that a bright light surrounded the three girls and when they opened their eyes again they saw that they were exactly under France's most well known landmark.

"So – when do we brawl?" the red haired girl asked her two friends who apparently still couldn't believe that they were in another country.

"Uh…well, I think if we go to a park we'll eventually find someone to brawl" suggested Sarah after she accepted the fact that they were indeed in the capital of France.

"There is a park a few minutes away from here" the Russian girl informed them and her accomplices looked at her with a questioning look.

"What? I checked the area around Paris before I went to bed yesterday" she justified her knowledge whilst at the same time blushing a bit.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get going people!" Bella enthusiastically said before she started going towards the direction of a long fountain-like thing before she stopped and turned to her red haired friend.

"Uh…which direction is the park?" she sheepishly asked and Alice and Sarah sweat dropped.

After making clear where the park was the trio started walking and 5 minutes later they found themselves at its entrance. Nodding to each other the three girls proceeded and started walking through the park. The weather was very pleasant for the beginning of October and the three brawlers enjoyed the warmth of the autumn sun.

They would have continued walking if a voice from behind hadn't called out to them. They turned around and saw a boy around the age of 11 or 12 standing there and looking at them as if he expected something.

"Excuse me, could you repeat what you said" Sarah asked the boy who raised his eyebrows when he saw that the three people in front of him were all wearing masks.

"I said that I challenge you to a brawl" he repeated and his gaze fixed itself on Alice.

"Which one of us do you want to brawl?" Bella inquired, although the red haired Russian girl suspected what the boy's answer was going to be.

"The girl with the red hair and green mask" he said as he took out a black card. The three girls did the same and they shouted "Field open!" at the same time before a bright light surrounded them and time stopped in the real world.

All 4 landed smoothly on the ground and both players immediately threw their own gate cards.

"What's your name, kid?" Alice questioned the boy.

"My name is Pierre. And yours?" he returned the question.

"The name is Dawn. Prepare to be defeated, Pierre" Alice said as a small smirk crossed her face.

"We'll see about that. Bakugan brawl! Pyrus Griffin stand!" he shouted as he threw a red and yellow sphere onto his opponent's card. A reddish light erupted from the sphere when it landed on Alice's gate card and when it faded a red griffin appeared

'So, he's a Pyrus brawler. And a daring one at that, playing his first Bakugan on my gate card. Then I'll use...' Alice quickly thought.

"Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand! Darkus Wormquake!" the red haired girl said as she threw a black and purple sphere and a creature that reminded her of the monster in "Dune Sea" appeared after it landed on her gate card.

"New battle detected. Pyrus Griffin at 390G's. Darkus Wormquake at 380G's" the voice from Alice's Bakupod said.

"Griffin– attack!" the boy ordered and the Pyrus Bakugan jumped on top of the Darkus Bakugan's head.

"Gate card open! Energy merge!" Alice shouted whilst pointing at her gate card. Suddenly a purplish-blackish glow surrounded the Griffin and then the same glow passed on to the worm-like creature.

"Change in power level detected. Pyrus Griffin at 290G's. Darkus Wormquake at 480G's" the Bakupod announced.

"Not so fast! Ability card activate! Fire tornado" Pierre said and suddenly a tornado of fire surrounded the boy's Bakugan.

"100 G's transferred back to Pyrus Griffin. Pyrus Griffin 10G advantage"

"Go get that Wormquake, Griffin!" the boy confidently shouted but Alice only smiled.

"You are too impatient, Pierre. Ability card activate! Spice Slayer! This ability card transfers 70G's from my opponent's Bakugan to my own" the Russian girl said whilst throwing the card at her Darkus Bakugan.

"70G's transferred from Pyrus Griffin to Darkus Wormquake. Darkus Wormquake 130G's advantage" the Bakupod said.

"Go Wormquake!" Alice ordered and then watched as her Wormquake swallowed the griffin. Both Bakugan returned to their spherical form and Alice caught hers whilst the Pyrus brawler disbelievingly watched his Bakugan return next to his feet.

"Nice job, Alice" Bella congratulated her friend.

"Thanks. Gate card set! Bakugan brawl! Darkus Rattleoid!" The red head threw another gate card and then threw a black and purple sphere onto it. A black and purple rattle snake-like creature appeared on it.

"Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand! Pyrus Ravenoid!" her opponent threw his second red and yellow sphere onto Alice's gate card and a red and yellow giant raven-like creature faced her Rattleoid.

"Gate card open! Joker's wild!" the teenage girl calmly said. A purplish blast shot up from the card and hit the Pyrus Bakugan which transformed back into a sphere.

"What happened? They didn't even brawl!" exclaimed the confused French boy as he looked at his masked opponent for an explanation. Bella and Sarah were also curious – they had never heard of such a card before.

"The Joker's wild card. With it the Darkus attributed Bakugan wins unconditionally" the Darkus brawler explained.

'Man, I never knew Alice was this good' were Bella's thoughts as she carefully observed her friend.

"Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand! Darkus Rattleoid!" Alice threw the rattle snake-like Bakugan again. It landed on the boy's gate card.

"Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand! Pyrus Rattleoid!"

Another rattle snake-like creature appeared on the boy's gate card – the only difference between the two Rattleoids being their color.

"Battle detected. Darkus Rattleoid at 350G's. Pyrus Rattleoid at 370G's" the Bakupod and Alice's wrist told her.

"Ability card activate! Fire judge! Ha! My Rattleoid gains 100G's! There's no way you can beat it now" the boy confidently said.

"Ability card activate! Ability counter!" the red haired Darkus brawler replied.

"Still isn't enough to beat me!" the boy shouted over, doing a small victory dance as his Rattleoid bit Alice's and both Bakugan turned back into spheres.

"Not bad, kiddo. Gate card set! Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand! Darkus Wormquake!"

"Bakugan brawl! Bakugan stand! Pyrus Rattleoid!" Pierre played his last Bakugan again. He looked at his masked opponent and waited for her next move but she only smiled at him.

"This battle is over and done with. Gate card open! Mine Ghost!" Alice calmly stated before snapping her fingers and her gate card exploded. Both Bakugan returned to the feet of their owners. The field around them disappeared and they found themselves in the park again.

"It was nice brawling you, Pierre. I hope we meet again" the red haired Russian told the young boy and put out her hand. Pierre took it and they shook hands. Then he left and the teenage girl turned around to see her friends staring at her incredulously.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" she jokingly asked her two best friends.

"Mine Ghost? I never expected you to use that gate card…or to actually brawl this well. Where did you learn how to brawl anyway, Alice?" Sarah questioned her friend. That fight was amazing and she didn't know if being a good strategist meant that you were a good player.

"Well, ever since the school year started I have been teaching myself how to play" was her answer.

"Oh, well, you did pretty well for your first brawl" Bella congratulated her and Alice smiled happily.

That was the trio's first fight and every day they would go to a different place and whenever they brawled they never lost. At the end of her second week of brawling something important for Alice happened – she found her very own guardian Bakugan.

They were in the middle of a brawl with a Haos brawler in Vienna when Alice heard a voice calling her name. At first she tried to ignore it, but the second time it called it was as if it had shouted at her. She looked around but the only people around her were her friends.

"Down here, you silly girl!" the voice said and so the red headed Russian girl looked down and to her great surprise she found a black and purple sphere at her feet. 'Odd. I haven't lost any battles to the girl' she thought as she carefully picked it up from the ground.

"Did you just call my name?" the teenage girl asked the sphere and imagined how stupid she must look, talking to a little ball.

"Yes, young one. I did call you and it took you some time to finally notice me. My name is Darkus Balaur and I am your guardian Bakugan" it said.

"My…my guardian…Bakugan?" the Russian girl slowly and disbelievingly inquired. 'I can't believe it! I finally found my own guardian Bakugan!' she happily thought.

"Yes. Now focus, you are in the middle of a brawl. Play me in the next round" she(the Bakugan had a feminine voice) reminded her new protégé.

"Yes, of course. Ability card activate! Summon wave!" she shouted and the card she was holding glowed a bright purple color before the card disappeared. A gigantic wave of a purple and black mist-like substance appeared behind her Darkus Siege and came crashing down on her opponent's unfortunate Haos Stinglash that turned back into a white and yellow sphere and rolled to her owners feet whilst the Russian girl skilfully captured her Darkus Siege.

"Now play my gate card and throw me. Then climb on my head" said her guardian Bakugan. Alice looked sceptically at the black and purple sphere on her shoulder but only shrugged and threw the gate card that had magically appeared in her hand as well as two other cards the moment she had picked up the Darkus Bakugan. She carefully took the sphere from her shoulder and threw her onto the gate card.

A tornado of the same purplish-black mist substance appeared on the card and slowly a spiked tail and two wings emerged from the tornado's wall and suddenly the tornado was gone and in front of her stood a magnificent black dragon with dark purple tattoos, two bat-like wings, silver spikes from the head to the end of the tail and two dark purple, curved horns on either side of the head. It was standing on four legs that had sharp claws and its slitted eyes were a dark red color. The dragon look back at her protégé and opened her maw(is this the right word???), revealing a row of sharp, white teeth.

"Well? What are you waiting for, girl? Hop on my head" she said and Alice didn't hesitate before she carefully, but easily, climbed onto her guardian Bakugan's head.

"New Bakugan detected. Darkus Balaur at 400G's" the Bakupod announced and the red haired girl's eyes widened at the number.

"Wow! Is that a talking Bakugan?" asked the girl who looked with awe and fear at her opponents Darkus Bakugan. However, she quickly concentrated on the battle and brought out her third and last Bakugan – a Haos Saurus that was at 380G's.

"Gate card open! Mist of Darkness!" the red haired girl said as the gate card opened and a dark-purplish mist surrounded her and her Bakugan.

"Darkus Balaur at 800G's. Haos Saurus still at 380G's"

"Ability card activate! Solar Ray!" the Haos brawler threw the ability card at the dinosaur-like Bakugan and a light, yellowish glow surrounded it.

"Haos Saurus now at 480 G's" the Bakupod updated both brawlers.

"Ability card activate! Draconian fury!" shouted Alice from her place on Balaur's head as a big purplish-black ball started to form in the Darkus Bakugan's open mouth. The Dragon-like Bakugan didn't shoot it though, as if it was waiting for something.

"Darkus Balaur now at 900G's. Haos Saurus still at 480G's"

"Ability card activate! G-Power Bump!" the Austrian girl played her last ability card – she knew it wouldn't be enough.

"Haos Saurus now at 540G's" the girl let her head fall down in defeat after she heard and saw the numbers.

"Ability card activate! Shadow impact!" the Darkus Brawler threw down the last ability card and her eyes widened even more when she heard the voice and then looked at the numbers on the display of her Bakupod.

"Darkus Balaur at 1000G's. Haos Saurus power decrease to 380 G's"

The huge purplish-black fire ball that had been waiting to be released was finally fired and when it hit the Haos Bakugan it created an explosion. The field around the 4 girls disappeared and the group were surrounded once again by the beautiful trees in the Tuerkenschanz Park.

"It was a pleasure being your opponent Kathrina. I hope that we meet again someday" Alice told the Austrian girl with smiles on both girls' faces as they shook hands and then parted ways.

"I am impressed, young one. You used my powers very well in that battle" said the voice of the red haired teenager's guardian Bakugan from her shoulder where it was sitting in its spherical form.

"My name is Alice. I am honoured that you are my guardian Bakugan, Balaur. By the way, out of curiosity, you are a female Bakugan, right?" Alice asked the Darkus Bakugan on her shoulder.

"Yes, I am a female. I am honoured to have such a talented brawler as my protégé" the female Bakugan replied.

"Then I promise you that you and I are going to get stronger together" the Russian teenager told her Bakugan.

"Hey, Alice, is that you guardian Bakugan?" Bella questioned her best friend, jumping up and down because of her excitement.

"Yeah. Girls, meet Darkus Balaur – she is my guardian Bakugan. Balaur, these are my two best friends – Bella and Sarah. They also brawl." The red haired girl presented her guardian to her friends.

"It's pleasure to meet you, friends of Alice" the Darkus Bakugan said as she popped open and inclined her head towards them.

"Balaur? Is that you?" came Tigorra's voice.

"Tigorra? I haven't seen you in ages!" Balaur joyously exclaimed as she hoped up and down on her protégé's shoulder.

"You two know each other?" asked Wolfress who had popped up on Bella's shoulder. The three girls looked at each other and then at the Haos and Darkus Bakugan who had started to chat excitedly. After a few seconds the two Bakugan noticed the looks.

"Yes, we know each other. We were something like best friends back in Vestroia" explained Tigorra.

"Yes, we met when I accidentally crossed into Haos space. The fight between us was long and tiring and it ended in a very close tie. After that we became best friends and regularly met" added Balaur. Then she turned towards the Pyrus Bakugan and looked at it.

"And who are you? I've never seen you before, Pyrus Bakugan" the dragon inquired.

"My name is Wolfress and it's nice to meet you, Balaur" the Pyrus Bakugan replied.

"Now our team is complete" said Sarah and Bella and Alice understood what she meant – they had all found their own Guardian Bakugan.

"I guess that out journey has truly begun now" continued the Pyrus brawler as she looked at her two friends who nodded at her statement.

"I have a question though, Alice" inquired the Darkus Bakugan and the red haired Russian girl looked at it "Why are you all wearing masks?"

"Well, you see, Balaur, I want my real identity to stay secret so that a certain group of people doesn't recognize me and Bella and Sarah both agreed to come with me. Since we brawl really well and have gained a reputation people have started calling us "The Masked Trio" or just TMT for short" the teenager answered her guardian Bakugan's question.

"What? I didn't know that" exclaimed Bella as a small smile appeared on her face.

"I've been looking at the internet chats and people have given us a nickname. Some are afraid of us though, because we appeared two weeks ago out of nowhere and, if you haven't noticed, we have been moving up in the ranking list rather quickly ever since. Some people even compare us to Masquerade since he sort of did the same thing and we are, well, wearing masks, just like he does. Even the Battle Brawlers have started to discuss us" the Russian teenager explained to her friends, a small smile appearing on her face and gradually turning into a grin.

"The Masked Trio? I like it" announced Sarah, grinning as well.

"So, which ranks are we at? Before we started brawling with you, Alice, Sarah was at 98th place and I was at 97th" Bella asked her red haired friend.

"Let me see" she replied before she looked at her Bakupod and checked the ranking list. Her eyes widened. Her two accomplices noticed this and got worried looks on their face.

"Girls, I don't know how, but we managed to get ranked from 46th to 48th place. I am on 46th, Bella, you are on 47th and you, Sarah, are on 48th" the Russian teenager cleared up her friends.

All three girls were silent after Alice finished the sentence and then they looked at each other.

"Wow – I never expected us to be so high ranked" Sarah finally spoke.

"Well, if we want to go higher then we have to get moving!" Bella enthusiastically proposed, making the other two members of the trio smile.

"I say we show the world just how good we are" Alice added, her smile turning into a devious smirk.

"And I will be with you all the way, Alice" her guardian Bakugan promised. The Pyrus and Haos Bakugan nodded at the Darkus's statement, all agreeing that they would be there for their protégés.

"What are we waiting for then? Next stop – Rome, Italy" announced the red head to her friends as she brought out the DT card. Her friends nodded, grabbed hold of her and the next moment the trio had disappeared.


End file.
